Wednesday 30 April 2014

Massive - One By One


Sometimes one needs real classic heavy rock to perk up, the first thing you think about is of course some of the classic bands, like Judas Priest, Iron Maiden etc. sometimes it sneaks in one or another newcomer like this new heavy rock band from Australia, named "Massive".

Assembled from parts lying around Melbourne in 2012, Massive are a volatile macho-rock engine fuelled on adrenaline, lager and a determination to party hard. Known to travel thousands of miles across the baking desert between gigs, these riot-starting, fist swinging road dogs mean business.

The debut album "Full Throttle" is a breakneck all-killer-no-filler record which is brimming with attitude. Tracks like todays tune "One By One" fuses aggressive and anthemic choruses with eye-watering solos whilst the bass-heavy testosterone soaked ‘Dancefloor’ is more circle pit than ballroom.




Todays tune "One By One" is taken from the debut album "Full Throttle". “Strap yourself in and hold on tight – this reckless Rock’n Roll debauchery machine is about to riff your face off.”



More info @

Official Massive Web

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Tuesday 29 April 2014

Neil Young & Crazy Horse - Walk Like A Giant


Psychedelic Pill is the thirty-fifth studio album by Canadian musician Neil Young. It was released on October 30, 2012. This is the second release of a Neil Young collaboration with Crazy Horse in 2012, and their first original work together since the Greendale album and tour in 2003 and 2004.




At 87 minutes, "Psychedelic Pill" is Neil Young's longest album and only studio album to span two discs. Many of the songs on the album came out of extended jam sessions with Crazy Horse after "Americana" was recorded. The opening track "Driftin' Back" makes references to Young's new memoir "Waging Heavy Peace" and his disdain for MP3s in between extended jamming. Another of the album's epic tracks, "Walk Like a Giant" laments how his generation was unable to change the world ("We were ready to save the world / But then the weather changed.") Elsewhere on the album he recalls listening to Bob Dylan's "Like a Rolling Stone" and The Grateful Dead on the radio ("Twisted Road"), and his Canadian roots ("Born in Ontario"). The Rolling Stone review noted that the riff and lyrics of the album's title track share similarities with Young's previous work such as "Cinnamon Girl". The main riff is borrowed from Young's "Sign of Love". That track also features the recording being filtered with a "phaser" effect, giving it a "psychedelic" feel (although the alternate mix removes the effect).



Overall, "Psychedelic Pill" is a pretty good record, it has the Neil Young honesty and it will take years to figure it out.

Todays tune "Walk Like A Giant" is the first video from Neil Young & Crazy Horse's new album "Psychedelic Pill"



More info @

Official Neil Young & Crazy Horse Web

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Monday 28 April 2014

Opeth - The Moor


Monday, new week, which means that we will present "Record Of The Week"

Still Life is the fourth studio album by Swedish progressive death metal band Opeth. The album was produced and engineered by Opeth alongside Fredrik Nordström, and released on October 18, 1999 through Peaceville Records. It was the first Opeth album to be released through Peaceville, following their departure from Candlelight and Century Black after the release of My Arms, Your Hearse.



Like most of the band's albums, Still Life features the combination of death metal and progressive rock elements that is characteristic of Opeth's music style. With this album, vocalist Mikael Åkerfeldt's death growl began to deepen considerably relative to the band's earlier albums. Still Life continues the band's experimentation with dynamics, and most songs contain at least two drastic dynamic shifts. The song "Benighted" is the only acoustic track, containing a blues-influenced guitar solo. This is also one of the band's few songs that follow a linear song structure, containing verses and a chorus.

"Face of Melinda" is, for the most part, another ballad; while it does not contain death metal vocals, it does contain guitar riffs that are typical of the band's heavier songs. A fretless bass guitar along with brushes in place of conventional drumsticks were used in "Face of Melinda" to give it a jazzier sound.

Due to time constraints, the band was able to rehearse only twice before entering the studio. Delays with the album's artwork pushed the release back an additional month, and the album was released in Europe under the Peaceville/Snapper label on 18 October 1999. Due to problems with the band's new distribution network, the album was not released in American stores until 27 February 2001.

Still Life was the first album recorded with bassist Martin Mendez and the first Opeth album to bear their logo or any kind of caption on the front cover upon its initial release.

The album was re-released by Peaceville Records in 2000 as a slipcase version and again as a digipak version in 2003. A third re-release came out on 31 March 2008, with reworked album artwork by original artist Travis Smith. This new edition has two discs, the first one being a remastered stereo mix of the album on Audio CD and the second one being an Audio DVD containing a 5.1 surround sound mix. The DVD also contains a live video for the album track "Face of Melinda" from The Roundhouse Tapes live performance in London. The remastered and remixed versions of the original recordings were done by Jens Bogren.

Todays tune "The Moor" is a good example how good this record is and it's something you need to have in your record shelf!



More info @

Official Opeth Web

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Sunday 27 April 2014

The Rolling Stones - Little Red Rooster


Sunday, time for a classic! Today we will take a closer look at the tune "Little Red Rooster" (or "The Red Rooster" as it was first titled) is a song that is a blues standard. Although it is a Chicago blues, the song is rooted in the Delta blues tradition and the theme "there is no peace in the barnyard after the rooster is gone" is derived from folklore. It is credited to American blues arranger and songwriter Willie Dixon and is adapted from earlier songs. First to record Dixon's song was Howlin' Wolf in 1961, using the original title "The Red Rooster".

"The Red Rooster" is one in a string of Howlin' Wolf tunes written by Willie Dixon in the later part of his career that were later popularized by rock artists — "Back Door Man" (the Doors), "Spoonful" (Cream), and "I Ain't Superstitious" (Jeff Beck Group). As "Little Red Rooster", a variety of musicians have interpreted it, including Sam Cooke and the Rolling Stones, who both had important record chart successes with the song.

The Rolling Stones began their career by playing blues songs and were particularly influenced by Chess Records Chicago artists, including Howlin' Wolf and Muddy Waters (they took their name from a song by the latter). Willie Dixon later recalled "When the Rolling Stones came to Chess studios, they had already met me and doing my songs, especially 'Little Red Rooster'". Early Stones manager Giorgio Gomelsky remembered an afternoon in London:

“There was Howlin' Wolf, Sonny Boy [Williamson II] and Willie Dixon, the three of them sitting on this sofa... Willie was just singing and tapping on the back of the chair and Sonny Boy would play the harmonica and they would do new songs. To a degree, that's why people know those songs and recorded them later. I remember '300 Pounds of Joy', 'Little Red Rooster', 'You Shook Me' were all songs Willie passed on at that time... Jimmy Page came often, the Yardbirds, Brian Jones..."

Dixon added "I left lots of tapes when I was over there [in London... I told] them anybody who wanted to could go and make a blues song. That's how the Rolling Stones and the Yardbirds got their songs".] It has been noted, "In many ways, this is Brian Jones' record. [He was] always the biggest blues purist in the band".

Although they had already recorded several Chess songs, according to Bill Wyman, "Little Red Rooster" was "a slow, intense blues song... [that producer Andrew Loog Oldham argued was] totally uncommercial and wrong for our new-found fame... the tempo made the track virtually undanceable". Mick Jagger commented:

“The reason we recorded 'Little Red Rooster' isn't because we want to bring blues to the masses. We've been going on and on about blues, so we thought it was about time we stopped talking and did something about it. We liked that particular song, so we released it. We're not on the blues kick as far as recording goes. The next record will be entirely different, just as all the others have been"

 

Anyway, here is todays classic, the Rolling Stones version of Little Red Rooster, live from 1964, enjoy!




More info @

Official The Rolling Stones Web

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Saturday 26 April 2014

Kings Of Leon - Temple


Kings of Leon is an American rock band that formed in Nashville, Tennessee, in 1999. The band is composed of brothers Anthony Caleb Followill (lead vocals, rhythm guitar), Ivan Nathan Followill (drums, percussion, backing vocals) and Michael Jared Followill (bass guitar, backing vocals), with their cousin Cameron Matthew Followill (lead guitar, backing vocals).



The band's early music was an upbeat blend of Southern rock and blues influences, but it has gradually expanded throughout the years to include a variety of genres and a more alternative, arena rock sound. Kings of Leon achieved initial success in the United Kingdom with nine Top 40 singles, two BRIT Awards in 2008, and all three of the band's albums at the time peaking in the top five of the UK Albums Chart. Their third album, Because of the Times, also reached the number one spot. After the release of Only by the Night in September 2008 the band achieved chart success in the United States. The singles "Sex on Fire", "Use Somebody", and "Notion" all peaked at number one on the Hot Modern Rock Tracks chart. The album was their first Platinum-selling album in the United States, and was also the best-selling album of 2008 in Australia, being certified platinum nine times. The band's fifth album, Come Around Sundown, was released on October 18, 2010. Their sixth album, Mechanical Bull, was released on September 24, 2013.



Today tune "Temple" is a song that was issued as the third single from the band's sixth studio album Mechanical Bull.



More info @

Official Kings Of Leon Web

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Friday 25 April 2014

Deftones - Romantic Dreams


Koi No Yokan is the seventh studio album by the American alternative metal band Deftones. The album was released through Reprise Records on November 12, 2012. The album was met with positive reception from professional critics on release.

Band frontman Chino Moreno characterized the album as "dynamic" with a full range of sound, noting that more contributions were made to the album from bassist Sergio Vega compared to their previous record, Diamond Eyes. Koi No Yokan marks the second album to not feature long-time bass player Chi Cheng, who was in a car accident in November of 2008 which left him comatose or partially conscious state up until his death in 2013. The album was released on November 14, 2012, although there is no exact translation of the album title, in Japan under the title 恋の予感 (Koi No Yokan), it means "Premonition of Love".



Deftones is an American alternative metal band from Sacramento, California, founded in 1988. The band consists of Chino Moreno (lead vocals and guitar), Stephen Carpenter (guitar), Frank Delgado (keyboards and turntables), Abe Cunningham (drums and percussion) and Sergio Vega (bass). The group's original bassist was Chi Cheng, who became comatose following a 2008 car accident and died in 2013. Deftones have released seven albums to date, with three Platinum (Adrenaline, Around the Fur, White Pony) and one Gold certification (for Deftones).



Deftones

Abe Cunningham − drums
Stephen Carpenter − guitar
Frank Delgado − samples, keyboards
Chino Moreno − vocals, guitar
Sergio Vega − bass

Todays tune "Romantic Dreams" taken from Koi No Yokan



More info @

Official Deftones Web

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Thursday 24 April 2014

Orchid - Wizard Of War


San Francisco-based doom rockers, Orchid, established their reputation early with 2009’s release of their first EP, “Through The Devil’s Doorway”. The EP quickly received first-rate reviews around the world naming it an ingenious debut for a band with an auspicious future. Shortly after the release of “Through The Devil’s Doorway”, Orchid began working on their full length album, “Capricorn”, which was released in 2011. The record immediately gained the band a huge following in Europe. The quartet around charismatic lead singer Theo Mindell and his fascinating, psychedelic vocals were the new darlings of the retro heavy rock scene. Enter 2012 the band had gained so much interest all around the globe, it was obvious the next steps would have to be taken. Orchid did so by signing with Nuclear Blast and unleashed another release entitled “Heretic” - the 10” EP contained three brand-new songs as well as the already known “He Who Walks Alone”, taken from the “Capricorn” album. Eventually, as a tasty appetizer for their upcoming second full-length record, an EP entitled “Wizard Of War” was released in February 2013.


Taking into consideration that the Californian quintet had obviously already found its formula for success, one could have expected them to play save by fully maintaining the first record’s course. However, when giving Orchid’s sophomore release “The Mouths Of Madness” a spin for the first time, one will immediately realize that it embodies anything but stagnation!  Carrying their 70’s-doom-hard-rock vibe to a new level of intensity and adding new facets to the work of art, Orchid haves succeeded in staying true to their roots while refining their trademark sound at the same time.

Todays tune "Wizard Of War" is taken from the album "The Mouths Of Madness", enjoy!



More info @

Official Orchid Web

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Wednesday 23 April 2014

Ortega - Crows


A murder of crows, a blackened swarm of liberation , if not from death. This immortality you speak of, three-horned one, gauges out the spirit’s eye. I have been wandering the astral plains and found nothing but stalemates of shapes and impressions. The evolution which I have been taught from the stumbling age onward brought me nothing but fear. It is time to start looking inward. Stare down and rise.

The murky depths of Ortega’s sound drag a darker yet more poignant carcass ashore with Crows, their latest recording. A collision of doom, sludge and noise tells a story of man looking inward and onward.

Ortega is a four-piece sludge/doom collective from The North of The Netherlands. Four men tell a tale of the sea. The sound is described as dark metal balanced with atmospheric soundscapes together with slow and heavy riffs.



Ortega is:

Richard - Vocals & Guitar
Frank - Bass
Alex - Guitar
Sven - Drums




Todays tune "Crows" will be released as a very limited cassette by Tartarus Records on April 10th, coinciding with our show at Roadburn in Tilburg, The Netherlands. Crows is a part of their yet unnamed album, to be released later this year by Black Bow Records on vinyl and Tartarus Records on cassette.





More info @

Official Ortega Web

Sorry No Spotify on this one, will update on release!

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Tuesday 22 April 2014

Alice Boman - Waiting


The blonde Scandinavian woman "Alice Boman" from Malmö that with her intimate fragile voice and tender kind of pop songs really touches the soul. Not really my cup of thé but there is something in her that I really like so i have to share this.



The first EP from Alice is called "Skisser" (means "Sketches" in Swedish) because that is exactly what it is. It was released in May 2013. The EP contains songs which Alice recorded in her home, just for her to remember and they were never meant to be heard by anyone, Alice sings with as much force as fragility, a Billie Holiday for the 21st century, without the jazz.

Todays tune "Waiting" by Alice Boman, appearing on her debut EP "Skisser".


Alice Bomans debut EP - Skisser - is now ut on vinyl with an extra vinyl only bonus track. Comes in a limited 300 copies. get it directly from Alices web shop here

More info @

Official Alice Boman Web

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Monday 21 April 2014

The Tower - Exile


New week and it's time to give the nice title of the "Record Of The Week" to the Swedish classic  four-piece’s heavy rockers from Uppsala. "The Tower‘s" full-length debut, "Hic Abundant Leones", it translates from latin to “here are many lions” gets this weeks notice. 

The first video out from the album and it gives you a solid demonstration of what they can offer with this record. But if you give the record a real spin you will notice that this one have more than just one lion at the zoo.

Tower with their début album is a fuzzad heavy rock coctail with a lot of 70's influences. Mixture of Black Sabbath, Jeffserson Airplane and the Stooges. Members do have a past in bands like Nocturnal Rites, Therion and Saturnalia Temple


Their biography is a very interesting reading that contain a time line... read it below.

It was back in 1938 that the brothers Erik and August and their friend Viktor migrated south. They left the small village in the northern forests where they grew up for the big city and the university, to study the science of harvesting the earth. On the fields beside the burial mounds in old Uppsala they met Tommie, a Soviet refugee. He showed them his sole possession, a blues vinyl from 5300 BC, suspecting that it would fit their melancholy northern souls. The four sat down in a barn and played a blues jam which lasted until 1945, when the war ended and the post-apocalyptic nuclear winter began.

At that time the group withdrew into the top floor of a nearby tower. Through the window of their tower-room they saw ash and snow falling from a gloomy, violet and crimson sky. Erik wept for the world and August began writing their first actual song, Andromeda. Tommie shuddered but had seen worse. Viktor suggested they should arm themselves.

The four remained in solitude throughout the 50's, an isolation interspersed only by a Zenith tube radio which brought them pop cultural news-pieces aired by American radio stations. They tried to adapt the rockabilly tunes they heard into their own music but were mostly unsuccessful (their innate sense of rhythm being too crooked).

In '59 Tommie--whilst listening to an original rumble on the radio--noted that the snow was beginning to melt. Soon thereafter flowers began to blossom. A marvelous explosion of colors, warmth and fragrances previously unknown! Viktor, seeking to condense these new vibrations into something physical, built both the world's first fuzz and wah-wah pedals. Erik, on the other hand, saw it more fitting to grow a mustache. No one remembers more than glimpses of the years that followed, except that they left the tower, but they all agree that it was a most intoxicating time and that they somehow acquired a more orgiastic bent as musicians during this period.

But, alas, in the early 70's each of the four felt a pressing need for a climax, for transcendence and revolt. For a time the band split up: August moved to Detroit, took to street-fighting and began wearing makeup; Viktor moved to Tokyo, where he entered a girls boarding school and started an all-girl noise-rock band; Erik moved to Göteborg and played acoustic music with political lyrics, seeking to inspire a world-wide socialist revolution, while Tommie moved to New York where he focused on the occult and worked as a session musician.

They reunited in '83 and moved back into their tower-room. They remained there until the autumn of 2012 (when rumors of the end of the world enticed them to leave) and they have since then been known to the public as "The Tower".

So begins the extraordinary tale of Swedish "bad luck boogie" combo The Tower, whose cryptic, swinging timewarp of a debut LP is now released via London's Bad Omen Records. The offbeat freakbeat and phantasmagorical psych-blues of Hic Abundant Leones exude an ageless charm and resounding singularity, striking eerie, dreamlike atmospheres that seemingly confirm The Tower's eccentric parallel-universe narrative.

Todays tune "Exile" is culled from the album "Hic Abundant Leones". Produced and Directed by Valentin Mellström & Stian Roenning



More info @

Official The Tower Web

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Sunday 20 April 2014

Birth Control - Gamma Ray


Sunday, classic time. Today I find myself in Germany so it suits to dig out something from this country.

Birth Control was a German rock band known for their progressive hard rock sound and provocative album covers.


Birth Control formed in 1966 in Berlin from two other bands, the Earls and the Gents. The band was founded with a lineup consisting of Bernd Koschmidder (bass), Reinhold Sobotta (organ), Rolf Gurra (saxophone, vocals), Fritz Groger (vocals), Reiner Borchert (guitar), Hugo Egon Balder (drums), and Klaus Orso (guitar). Within five years of the band's formation all seven of the original members had departed, but the band continued under the leadership of long-standing members drummer (and later lead vocalist) Bernd Noske (who replaced Balder in late 1968) and guitarist Bruno Frenzel (who replaced Borchert in 1969).

Following the death of Frenzel in 1983, the group disbanded, but reunited in 1993 with only Noske remaining from the previous lineup. Other members of the reformed band included returning bassist/vocalist Horst Stachelhaus, as well as guitarist Rocco Zodiak and keyboardist Xaver Fischer.

Despite the death of mainstay Stachelhaus in 1999, the band continued under Noske's guidance, touring Germany and release new albums periodically following the turn of the century. In later years, former members Peter Föller (bass, vocals) and Zeus B. Held (keyboards) both returned to the fold as guest musicians at occasional concerts. The band came to an end on February 18, 2014 with the death of Noske. The final lineup of the band consisted of Noske, bassist Hannes Vesper, keyboardist Sascha Kuhn, and guitarist Martin Ettrich.



Todays tune "Gamma Ray" is taken from the 4th album "Hoodoo Man" (1972)



More info @

Official Birth Control Web

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